yep...man I could just go on and on. i have asked more than I should from mine and have always been pleased.

my DH is a supervisor in the Air Force. He has trouble doing anything but bringing a hammer down. He defaults to me. What is so ironic is that both my kids did this exact thing to my car today! They did a great job for a 12 and 14 yr old. DH came home for lunch and happened to come in the house before the garage. I let him know what they were doing in the garage and asked him to be supportive if he saw them cleaning the car. He knows himself well enough to have avoided the garage. Instead he checked it out then came to me to ask me to go look. I went out there and looked at their job and genuinely commended them on their hard workl. I bragged them up but not inflated. They did miss spots but really worked diligently. I REALLLLLLY want them to continue to do this job so i found positive things to really complement. Before we all left the garage, I told them that NEXT TIME they would need to pay a little more attention to the grit in the cupholders and between the seats (snack crumbs) but otherwise i WAS THRILLED! We all left the garage content and i will personally ride around with crumbs and grit in comparison to what it WAS and the fact that my kids had a good time together (what?) doing a job they didn't want to do and they did a GREAT (not perfect) job at that. You have to remember the age/capability, the lesson, the motivation being preserved and the fact that you want to stay reasonable to teach them to be such. OFten, what adults would critique is not even on the kids radar. At this age, all I wanted to do is impress my parents. So, if there's something to be impressed about, even if it's just the fact that they attempted it (even if the job is horrible), be impressed by it. Then, as a super-side note, see if they'll work on ...xyz NEXT time and act thrilled with the curren tjob.

my mother, sister, sister in law and I have different models and are equally as THRILLED with ours. I say just pick one and go for it. i have one called the Creations one, I don't know what they have...my sister might have a "professional" one. It does everything I want it to do without complaint. I do everything from scratch and some things are super tough and never have I had a problem. The warranty is awesome, it does it job (i'vew had it 4 yrs) and it still looks and acts new. And the customer service is like nothing I've had anywhere else...golden. It has been worth every single penny AND MORE!

We dont allow unsupervised internet access here but we are also teaching them how to handle it, how to make good decisions that match your values...just like any other part of life. Otherwise, I tend to try to grow as a parent along with their development. I try to permit things as they are needed. I have one child that has proven to be extremely trustworthy in all areas, and one who has made ****serious***, repeated online judgment errors (at age 9 AND 11). So they are treated differntly. The kid who is trustworthy bought themselves a tablet a yr ago. I installed the Funamo app on it and set it to just track, monitor or otherwise limit keywords, etc., to our liking. This way, chances are wayyyy lower that something really bad will pop up and that kid is allowed to take the device anywhere they want because the app does everything I'm concerned about and doesn't do what doesn't concern me. I monitor when I remember, from my computer. I have found through the app monitorng that an inappropriate thing or two has come through but it shows that dd was on the site 3 seconds or less so I didn't even ask her about it. It did prompt me to block the sites address and enter some new blocked key words tho. The kid who is still learning how to learn better judgment skills is more closely monitored and is not permitted to take computers and such into their room. He is coming along though and one day I'm sure he will be allowed a lot more freedoms. My kids share a dumb phone just to keep in touch with me, safety, etc. They only got that when it became necessary..around 2 yrs ago. A smart phone is not a necessity for them at this time and I am not in position to pay for it anyway. They've been told that the can get one when they can afford it, so likely after they get their first job. They seem fine with that. We restrict screen times here for time management reasons. And they do get argumentative when there's too much screen time. But we allowed access to screens at the age they became interested and we took it as an opportunity to teach them. They've always been supervised and we do have a rule to keep it in the main area. That can be tough as they need the internet for school constantly but if they are not allowed to show me they can handle it to some degree, then how will I know? Working now on installing funamo on their laptops. Overall we try to be relaxed about it so they are open to our guidance, but we do have a stricter idea than what's allowed than their peers parents. One of dd's friends parents allowed unsupervised use of her tablet and not only was the girl engaging in cyber s@x but she ran away with a guy from a local high school that she met on her secret fb account. The parents kept saying...ohhhh we need to figure out how to supervise their internet use, we just haven't yet. She's 13. It started out just downloading game apps. Another friends 9 yr old son stumbled upon a minecraft YouTube video someone created, showing 2 of the characters having s@x. He used his Wii U to keep going back to it until his mom walked in on him watching in the living room! Yeah...I'd rather my kids don't experience this stuff. I want them to learn how to use these things in a more healthy progression with lots of conversation along the way. I am still shocked at how free or hands off some parents are about some of this stuff, but, OP, we are all different. This can't be the first time you've run across vastly different parenting styles, can it? If you don't learn how to distance yourself from other people's choices, even family, you're gonna make yourself sick.

Hoodwinked and Hoodwinked Too.

This is sort-of my problem with FB. A dynamic is now in my life that I would normally not invite, or enjoy. And not only that, there are EXPECTATIONS ..by other people. I am EXPECTED to have people and yucky family as friends that previously, I have successfully placed in my life. But b/c of FB, that all changes. B/c drama exists on FB that doesn't exists in real life. I really prefer REAL LIFE.. And misunderstandings that normally wouldn't be, because the tone and meaning cannot always be correctly communicated electronically. So, in essence, relationships have changed...b/c of FB! Ug....yet I keep it.

Yeah I have to remind him a time or two that he will get to go hunting for 4 days with his dad or, camping for a week, or overnight visits to other homeschooled buddies houses during the week. All without a thought to school while his school friends were in class.

2 mile run today, down a little on my pace. Never can seem to progress of I didn't sleep well. All hip exercises and a full round of stretches.

No, both are going into a yr round schedule. That was the plan 2 yrs ago with dd (he was still in public school then), then 1 yr ago with both but we never managed to implement it. That's no surprise to him at all. He's even given input into how such a thing would work for him and he will be able to choose various aspects to manage on his own. He admits he will benefit from the extra down times yr round will create. We are talking about a kid who feels school was created as punishment, period. Lol. And they are working a solid 5 days a week right now and have been. Having a whole month off then going to 4 hrs a week for 6 weeks is hardly punishment. He also wants me to advance him a grade because he thinks he's a grade up. Thats it...just because he wants it. He has a lot to learn ;). Maturity will come... For now he's rockin' it out. This momma is trying to avoid the summer slump. Anyone else worried about that? I noticed dd doesn't do the slump thing but with Ds, when he's totally off a week, it takes a full week to get it back again.

well, I guess that's my hope. I know even though I am going to 'try' to keep the work coming, though slowly, that there will be a dropping of skills to some degree. I was just hoping for this groove to happen a little sooner in the year, of course, and not RIGHT.AT.THE.END. lol

I'll check out these suggestions, thanks! What does TOPS stand for so I can google it? I do have a full course of Earth Science sitting here but he is fully revolting against it. lol It's completely off the table, unfortunately. I love earth science. I think I may have written this in a confusing way..sorry! He's at the very end of 7th grade now, will carry a little chemistry into 8th grade to finish and will need to choose what science will finish 8th grade. So we need about 3/4 a year of science content. off to google! He's doing some Alg 1 staggered into his current pre-A work and his current chemistry course has math in it, so we are on our way with that.

DS's situation: In 6th grade he was in public school. They spent each quarter of the year on a different science. They got quite in depth with physics, earth science, chemistry and some biology. He's in 7th with me now, and he is finishing up a chemistry course but will likely enter 8th grade with some yet to complete. I know in high school he will go even deeper into 3 sciences so for what will remain of 8th grade science, after he's finished this chemistry course, I feel like I can be sort of casual with his science course. He wants to choose and piece things together he's interested in and I"m all for that. Of what I have on hand that he hasn't worked on is the following units and says he would like to do: (need to pare this down, of course) Forces and motion (3 wk unit) An Energy unit (3 wk unit) The biggest Snap Circuit kit they sell that includes curriculum (could last most of the rest of 8th) Microbiology, Cell Theory/Genetics and DNA/Living Organisms (3 units in total, 9 weeks) He is also SUPER interested in continuing to code but more in depth. I have toyed with having him just do the snap circuits curriculum and weaving in coding. Or doing the snap circuits till that's done then bringing in coding full time. Is coding considered Computer Science? The above are the only things he feels like he didn't cover in 6th or won't immediately cover in 9th or 10th. It's been pretty tricky trying to teach him new things since his 6th grade was for gifted kids and they pretty much did 7th grade work. I've tried to match that up and move forward and have done pretty good, except for a good science fit. I'm thinking it could be so fun for him to just get to choose it all for himself...as long as he completes what he chooses. Suggestions?

We are a few weeks short of being finished this year...technically. We plan to do a very light summer schedule to start year-round school. This is DS's first year back to Hs'ing. He hs'ed in elementary a couple years. He is much less of a 'natural' student between my two, far less interested in writing, handwriting (omg...), the schedule, a groove. So here we are, at the end, and his handwriting is 1000% better with only a little work needed, but it's legible! He gets up on his own, knows where his stuff is, knows when to go to work, how to set the timer, be accountable, puts his stuff away when he's done, moves on to the next thing in Math with very little hand holding, his spelling has VASTLY improved and ......... My proudest mommy brag: During his first month of this school year, he was asked to write a one paragraph parable. His detest of writing caused him to take FOUR days of language arts time to complete it. And, afterwards, I could barely even read it so he ended up typing it out on day five. Fast forward, last month he completed a five week independent research project that resulted in a two-page persuasive essay that he scored a 98% on, after only taking two days to write it (after all the research was in and writing prompts were complete). I want to keep going! For his sake, good lord, not for mine... but he's come so far! He is feeling 'punished' that I would have them work through the summer to maintain as much of the groove as possible, although I only plan on doing 1.5 days a week until August, and ONLY working on the things I don't want to slump. I told him he'd be thankful when we don't have to spend part of fall readjusting to everything and we can just go on and start progressing as normal with out back tracking. Like he cares about that........LOL Who else is feeling this way? Things just got REAL good!

ha! mine stopped calculating at 9999+ I just don't have the energy, time, interest to filter it, delete, etc. OTOH, I have found it super helpful to search my inbox for (what I thought) was a long lost email I needed for some reason. With my "method", it's never lost. LOL

I REALLY appreciate when friends like this create their own 'business' FB profile, then you can join if you want to. And then their regular personal profile pretty much stays benign. True, the far majority don't do this but I am so thankful to the ones that do. I have a friend who sells Pampered Chef this way. I do hide her business profile, but when I'm in the market, I go click on it and take advantage of the deals. Maybe if more people got that suggestion, they'd do it. Don't know....one can wish..

I can't remember for me, but both mine were in 5th grade and in public school here when they were first taught. It was repeated in 6th and now they are homeschooling in 7th and 8th and it is continually a part of certain lessons now as well.

Moving Beyond the Page level 12-14. DD is doing it now, DS will do it in 8th next year.

yes, we use Vocabulary From Classical Roots. I think it's important because it helps them understand the English language more thoroughly. Understanding roots has caused them to know what words mean when they have never even heard the word before by piecing together the learned meanings of the roots. It has helped them to know what they are hearing in certain other Latin based languages that they don't speak, as well. It also helps them understand MORE thoroughly words they already knew the meaning of. Knowing the roots shows that in some words, the original intent was more forceful so it would only correctly be used in a more dramatic circumstance. Or the opposite. There are a ton of ways I see them benefiting from learning this. OH how i love to observe them verbally pulling apart a word that is new to them that we've heard in other parts of our life, as they examine what they know about the root of the word. That light bulb going off, pulling from their root knowledge is so totally fun. And, mine read dozens and dozens of books a year and have very high vocabulary as it is.

my 2 have just a regular chunky type planner from walmart or target that is sectioned by month then by week. On Sundays I put down a week's worth of work in the correct week and stick it in their binders (binder holds any and all school books/work/extra paper/supplies). That planner is to be found by me or them in that binder at all times or there shall be a stiff penalty :laugh:. The can do the work in any order they want, really. Unless there's a certain test or some odd thing in there. They can look ahead to Friday and see where I expect them to be at that time and do all LA in one day, if they want, or all social studies, or do it just as i write it. They mark off what they do, write questions or notes for me in it, I makes notes on things I observe or changes I want to me per child in their planner, or..whatever. The planner is king here. It's alllll in there. But it's not mine, it's theirs and they are to stay organized with it at all times. Best of all, it just works to get it all done. On Friday, whatever isn't marked off, they must do. It's really low tech, simple, cheap, handy, correctly sized and makes them maintain some accountability. Next year, DD will be in 10th and she will write her own. I would have done it this year, but it didn't occur to me till late in the year.

I second C.M. Russell. We live in his 'neck of the woods' so we've learned a lot about him. Very interesting artist. He was artistic in many ways.

The bolded is me to a tee. When I feel like it, I also tell them they, above anyone else, are the MOST qualified to educate their children and that you can do anything you want to do, badly enough. I do agree that circumstances are key. I know a family that is having horrible problems with their 13 yr old, they have considered hs'ing a lot in the last 2 yrs, but they are also in a financial bind and both parents MUST work. Even though they work slightly different shifts, there is a period that she would be home alone. She has already proven to use extremely poor judgement online as well as who she has over when they are gone...etc etc etc. The parents also openly dislike one another. Soooo.... her problems aren't just b/c of her, and I had to agree with the mom that public school is likely a better place for her right now. My circumstances weren't always favorable, but we sacrificed a LOT at first, to wiggle things around to homeschool. First thing we stopped is needless spending so we could go down to one income. The mom above isn't willing to do this, which is also why they are in a financial bond. So in her case, I was pretty blunt (b/c she was asking) and told her it's all about priorities and hard decisions. In the end, she is one that I AGREE with..that she just can't do it. Or won't..

high intensity interval training today, with hip strengthening exercises and a bazillion stretches.

Oh....how could I forget... I hate hash tags. Hate.them. maybe it's how my friends tend to use them. They just seem like a way to go ahead and say something you don't want to out right say. Like #sorrynotsorry. I would never say that to someone or my 'audience' and neither would some of the people I know. But they feel safe being snotty under the hash tags. Or..the super long hash tags I don't have the patience to decipher. What.. Just..why?? I might occasionally use a funny hash tag but I really don't like them at all.

All the quizzes are annoying. All the game invites used to fry me, until I changed my settings to not see them. The pictures that say you will share if you're paying attention. My sister's constant gym updates. My sister's constant pictures of healthy food. My mom TYPING the word "like" on everybody's updates. And THEN she clicks the like button. No, not joking. Two friends who left our hometown, which is a great place that many of us love...they openly bash our city and are glad to have left. That's soooo annoying to me. #1 complaint tho.... The fact that I can't manage my fb acct without someones feelings getting hurt it causing huge drama between family. What a bunch of crap. I would omit the negativity in my life otherwise by...oops ...being to busy to chat much on the phone or otherwise keeping you at arms length. But let's all throw down because I unfriend you so I can keep my fb atmosphere peaceful. Why is fb such a catalyst for that? I still unfriend or hide/unfollow as I please but still can't believe the stupid fallout from it. If it weren't for our family being so spread out and fb being an easy way to share quickly, I probably wouldn't have an acct..for realz. Love cute animal pics and memes. Lol

:iagree: :iagree: